A Sweet Escape

While walking the streets of Palermo in Buenos Aires look for a red awning. Yeah, ridiculous! You know what, don’t look for it…know exactly where you’re going! Farinelli – a sweet escape.

This cute little spot is all white and red, full of delicious goodies.

Walking by Farinelli will remind you of grandma’s house. That is, if your grandma put pies on the windowsill to cool. No? Ok, well, mine didn’t either. But you’ll feel like a child wanting every single goodie, face right against the glass, tongue out! Brownies, bundt cakes, cheesecake…all lined one next to the other. All fresh, what there is is what you’ll get!

As you walk inside…because you WILL walk inside…you’ll find baskets full of fresh fruits and veggies that they use to create the wonderful recipes made right in front of your eyes.

If you are lucky enough to go on a day when they have brownies, don’t doubt it – just do it! If it’s not clear enough in the picture above, ooey gooey wal-nuty! That perfect texture you dream of when you bite into any brownie…it’s got it.

And below a traditional vanilla ‘bizcochuelo’ with a hint of lemon and a side of red berry sauce. Fluffy and moist – cakey perfection.

To wash the sweetness down order the lemonade – please don’t leave without tasting this! So fresh, so minty – minty freshness.

A sunny Sunday afternoon, heck any afternoon! End it well, at Farinelli.

Etzel Itzik

Go to Etzel Itzik if you want the best of the best Israeli food in Miami. This small yet comfortable restaurant will have you smiling in no time! The smiles could come thanks to the slew of small pickled platters that appear at your table the second you sit down, the amazing and friendly service, the hundreds of pictures of happy satisfied customers you’ll see hanging on the walls, or simply the delicious food.

Take a look at the picture above one more time…don’t tell me that’s not tempting. Little tidbits of yummy pickled veggies and salads to keep you going and open up your appetite while you wait for your order. From cabbage, to carrots, to beans…it’s all there, and it’s all so so good!

Yes, that crazy looking green drink is mint lemonade…or as they call it, the ‘lemonana’…lemon = lemon, nana = mint! It is probably about 50-25-25 mint to lemon to crushed ice…just a guess…But you could only imagine the amount of fresh mint they go through every day – NUTS – refreshing and so good for you! Next, a plate of babaganoush (eggplant spread), crazy creamy with the perfect amount of smokey flavor. Dip their fluffy pita bread in that…that’s all I’ll say about that…

Now, next is Pepan’s favorite (my dad…the man that taught me how to eat), chicken livers with deliciously caramelized onions. I don’t lean towards that dish, but hey…if HE says it’s good, I trust, and so should you!

For a simple great dish, go for the beef kebab! They put tooons of parsley in it, which makes it super fresh and tasty!

I’ll tell you the truth, I have never been able to get to dessert here…but for you, this one time, I did. Recommended to us by my cousin Gabriel – I call it the Israeli napoleon! Light, flaky dough filled with a cloudy sweet pastry cream. I can’t promise you’ll be wanting to wear a bathing suit after this meal…I certainly did NOT! I say you save this spot for a perfect rainy day, where all you want to do after a filling meal is slouch on the couch and fall asleep until dinner time! =)